Using the Passenger Lists and Indexes

The Hamburg passenger lists contain the names of millions of Europeans who departed Europe from Hamburg, Germany between 1850 and 1934 (except 1915–1919). Nearly one-third of Germans, and 90 percent of the people who emigrated from eastern Europe (Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, Romania) during this time are included on these lists. If you have ancestors who emigrated from these areas, the Hamburg passenger lists could provide important genealogical information about them, including their hometowns. Extensive indexes make these records easier to use than most other passenger lists and emigration records.

The records of Europeans who emigrated through other ports, such as Bremen, LeHavre, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp, have either been destroyed or are not available for research at the Family History Library.

You may not need to look at the Hamburg passenger lists if you already know where your ancestor was born in Europe. Furthermore, you may be able to find your ancestor's birthplace in other sources, such as local records where the person resided.

The Hamburg passenger lists are made up of two sections. Each section has its own separate handwritten index.

The Direct Passenger Lists include passengers who left Hamburg, Germany, and sailed directly to their destination without stopping at other European ports.

The Indirect Passenger Lists include passengers who stopped at another European or British port before sailing to their final destination. About 20 percent of the immigrants leaving Europe took indirect routes.

Internet Access. The partially completed (1890-1913) Internet index and, at the bottom of the same screen, the Hamburg passenger list images direct and indirect for all years 1850-1934, and the separate handwritten index images 1855-1934 are available at Ancestry.com, a subscription site. The Family History Library has a subscription which includes the Ancestry images and indexes.

Microfilm Access. Also, the passenger lists, Fifteen-Year Direct Index, and handwritten indexes are on 486 rolls of microfilm at the Family History Library, and can be ordered at Family History Centers. An additional 48 rolls of microfilm for the Klüber Indexes for the years 1850-1871, and one additional roll for the 1872 Direct and Indirect Index are also available.

For details and film numbers, use the Place Search of the Family History Library Catalog under:

Ships arriving in America from Hamburg 1850 to 1934. If you know the name of the ship on which your ancestor arrived in the United States from Hamburg and the date that ship arrived, Roger P. Minert's, Kathryn Boeckel's, and Caren Winter's Germans to America and the Hamburg Passenger Lists: Coordinated Schedules (FHL International Ref Desk Book 973 W22m) can help you quickly access the Hamburg Passenger Lists microfilm departure record for your ancestor. This can be done without having to search the alphabetical name index for your ancestor's name. In this book each ship arrival in America from Hamburg is listed by arrival date and ship name. The FHL film and page number of that ship's list in the Hamburg Passenger Lists is also given. The book's WorldCat entry.

Four Steps to Follow:

STEP 1: Select the best index to use.

STEP 2: Search the index.

STEP 3: Obtain the passenger list.

STEP 4: Search the passenger list.

Step 1: Select the Best Index to Use

What you need to know to use the indexes. Before using the index, you need to know the approximate year the emigrant departed from Hamburg, Germany. You will also need the emigrant's name. In addition, it would help to know the name of a relative or neighbor traveling with him. The 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 U.S. censuses are a good place to begin searching for these kinds of information. The census provides the year a person arrived in the United States, and shows neighbors. If possible, find out whether the emigrant traveled directly to his or her destination or stopped at other European or British ports along the way.

The Hamburg passenger lists have many partial indexes:

Internet Index 1890-1913 - The Hamburg State Archive created the partial index at Ancestry.com.

Alphabetical Passenger Lists 1850-1854 - The lists themselves are alphabetical by at least the first letter of the family name.

Klüber Index 1 for:

Direct Passenger Lists, 1856–1871

Indirect Passenger Lists, 1866–1867

Klüber Index 2 for:

Direct Passenger Lists, 1850–1871

Indirect Passenger Lists, 1854–1865

Fifteen-Year Direct Index 1856-1871 - Incomplete but easier to use than handwritten indexes.

1872 Direct and Indirect Index - Shows age and microfilm page number.

Handwritten Index to Direct Passenger Lists 1855-1934 - Complete, but hard to read; divided by year or part of a year.

Handwritten Index to Indirect Passenger Lists 1855-1910 - Complete, but hard to read; divided by year or part of a year.

No single index lists everyone. Each index covers different years and has its individual strengths and weaknesses. For example, if the emigrant departed in 1899 (between 1890 and 1913) check the Internet partial index first. If the emigrant departed in 1854, search the Klüber 2 index, or the alphabetical passenger lists themselves for that year. If the emigrant departed about 1869 or 1870, search the two sets of Klüber indexes first, then the Fifteen-Year Index, and then the handwritten indexes direct and indirect.

Determine the indexes to use from the following table. It lists the indexes available for various emigration years. The table also shows the recommended order in which to search the indexes until you find the ancestor.

Step 2: Search the Indexes

Use the following instructions to search the index you selected in STEP 1.

Internet Index 1890-1913

To search this partial index for free at the Family History Library on Ancestry.com click here. You can also search the same index on a home computer if you click here, but you will be asked to subscribe to see the search results list.

If you find a name in this Internet index you can click "View Image" to see a picture of the actual passenger list page including the home town of each emigrant, and his or her relatives on the same ship.

Alphabetical Passenger Lists 1850-1854

The lists themselves are alphabetical by the first letter of the surname from 1850-1854.

Internet Access. To view the Ancestry.com images of alphabetical passenger lists for free at the Family History Library click here, and then click the date you wish to view. You can also search the same list of images on a home computer if you click here, and then click the date you wish to view, but you will be asked to subscribe to see the images.

Microfilm Access. For the Family History Library Catalog listing of the alphabetical passenger lists from 1850-1854 microfilm numbers click here. These microfilms can be ordered at the nearest Family History Center.

The index cards provide the emigrant’s name, status or occupation, age, names of persons traveling in the same party, and place of origin. It also includes the year of emigration and the page number where the entry will be found. A letter i or d following the year will indicate if the entry was from the indirect or direct index. There are different types of cards used in this file. The figures below show two typical samples of cards from the Klüber indexes.

When you find a person in an index, use the information in the index to find the person in the actual passenger list. See step 3 to learn how to do this.

1872 Direct and Indirect Index

Internet Access. This index is available for free on the Internet from ProGenealogists.com by clicking here.

Microfilm Access. This index is on Family History Library microfilm 1183696 items 3 - 6. This microfilm can be ordered at the nearest Family History Center. The book call number is FHL INTL Ref book 943.515/H1 W39h 1872. Books do not circulate to Family History Centers.

Handwritten Direct Indexes 1855-1934

Internet Access. At the Family History Library search for the free images of this complete but hard-to-read index on Ancestry.com click here. You can see a list of images and years covered for the same index on a home computer if you click here, but you will be asked to subscribe to see the actual index images.

Instructions. Find the year the emigrant departed, and the letter of the alphabet with which your ancestor’s surname begins in the index. Names are arranged by the first letter of the surname only, so you may need to search the entire section (letter of the alphabet) to find the person.

NOTE: Each letter of the alphabet was allotted only a certain number of pages. When these pages were filled, the rest of the names beginning with that letter were continued on the unused pages under another letter. There may or may not be a note indicating this happened. Therefore, search all of the end pages assigned to other letters if your ancestor’s name is not listed where it should be.

Figure 4 below is a sample of an entry from the handwritten index. The actual format of the indexes vary over time. Notice the type of information provided within these entries.

Figure 4: Handwritten Index Entry.

The actual format of the indexes vary over time. Notice the type of information provided within these entries. This index entry contains:

The name of the ship (California).

70th ship to leave port and departure date of the ship (28 June 1893).

The page this information is found on the actual passenger lists (1086).

When you find the emigrant in the index, note the number following the name. This number indicates which page the name appears on in the passenger list. In some cases page numbers are dittoed, referring to the previous page. Occasionally, large page numbers are partially dittoed. For example, pages 1086, 1087, and 1088 might appear as 1086, 87, 88.

Next, move up the column until you find the departure date, and ship. When you have the departure date, ship, and page number, you are ready to find the emigrant in the passenger list.

If you cannot find a person in the index to the direct lists, follow the steps outlined here to search the index to the Indirect Lists.

For a Wiki list of terminology used in the Hamburg Passenger List click here.

Handwritten Indirect Indexes 1855-1910

Internet Access. At the Family History Library to search for the free images of this complete but hard-to-read index on Ancestry.com click here. You can see a list of images and years covered for the same index on a home computer if you click here, but you will be asked to subscribe to see the actual index images.

Microfilm Access. For the Family History Library Catalog listing of Handwritten Indirect Indexes microfilm numbers click here. These microfilms can be ordered at the nearest Family History Center.

Instructions. The Indirect and the Direct Handwritten indexes are similar. For more detailed instructions explaining how to use these Indirect indexes see the Handwritten Direct Indexes instructions.

Cannot Find Your Ancestor in the Indexes?

If you cannot find an emigrant in the indexes, there are several possible reasons:

The emigrant did not sail from Hamburg. He or she may have sailed from one of several other ports in Europe, most of which have few or no records available.

The person was listed on another index page because the first page was full. Search the end sections of other letters of the alphabet.

The person was listed on another index. If you tried the Handwritten Direct Index, switch to the Handwritten Indirect Index or some other index. For a list of alternate indexes see the table at the end of Step 1 in this Wiki article.

Step 3: Obtain the Desired Passenger List

Once you have found your ancestor in an index, you will want to get the actual passenger list on which that person appears.

Internet Access. On the Ancestry.com Internet index results list, click "View Image" at the end of a name entry to see the image of that person's passenger list page.

Also, at the Family History Library you can browse a complete set of free images of both Direct and Indirect Passenger Lists on Ancestry.com if you click here and scroll to the bottom of the page to select the appropriate years. You can browse the same years and passenger list images on a home computer, if you scroll to the bottom after you click here, but you will be asked to subscribe to see the actual passenger list images.

Step 4: Search the Passenger List

In

Hamburg-St. Pauli (Germany) port in 2005.

the passenger list, turn to the page number you found in the index. On some passenger lists a numbered page is followed by one or more unnumbered pages. If your ancestor's name does not appear on the numbered page, search the unnumbered page(s) immediately following it.

Format and titles may vary by shipping line and year.

If you know the name of a traveling companion, or the name of a relative or neighbor who lived near the ancestor in both the old world and the new world, it may help to more clearly identify your ancestor on the passenger lists.